Looking forward to this...

Just got tickets on TicketWeb for Day Out With Thomas (TM) at Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (Bryson City Station) on 07/30/10

I've Got A Secret

What a great weekend. It began with dinner right off the grill on Friday night and continued with big tires and loud horns at the Touch-A-Truck event on Saturday. Jack is just a tad obsessed with fire trucks, ambulances and the like. Although he was a little less excited and bit nervous to see them so up close and personal, he had such a good time seeing the trucks, a rare Russian spy boat and a helicopter.

On Sunday, we participated in the parent-child dedication at church. Our families came to support Sam on his special day. It was so wonderful to spend the day just hanging out with everyone. Take a look at some of the fun.

Another of Jack's recent obsessions...whispering and secrets. Last Saturday during a long car ride he just kept whispering "I say doughnuts..." and then waiting for us to laugh. This weekend it was whispering in your ear this heart-melting secret: "I love you!"

look who's smiling...

So I finally caught the perfect shot of our sweet little man grinning ear to ear. He saves most of these smiles for his mommy, but shares them with others too, like daddy, big brother, aunt Lisa and grandmothers. We enjoyed a wonderful weekend as a family and a beautiful mother's day with extended family. I'll fill you in on more of that later...

Growing like a weed?

So, a friend of mine (who I think reads the blog) was holding Sam the other night and said, "Oh, I didn't know he was cooing now!" I then realized I hadn't really given much update on Sam except for how it applies to big brother's adjustment. Eleven weeks today, Sam had his 2-month check-up last week and weighed in at 12 pounds 12 ounces, which is about 75th percentile. His height was 23 inches, which is 50th percentile. Not sure if it's quite as fast as a weed, but he's grown 3 1/2 inches in the last 10 weeks. Not bad, huh?

In the last 3-4 weeks, he has started to smile all the time...although I'm never ready with the camera (go figure!) He usually smiles when you are interacting with him and smiles all the time when his big brother is playing with him and giving him kisses. Also, "baby sam talking" as Jack says. He makes lots of coos, aahhs and other adorable baby sounds.

He's been sleeping through the night pretty reliably for the last 3 weeks, thanks to my strict Baby Wise regimen. We followed it pretty closely with both of the boys, but I think it worked even more quickly with Sam. He really has accepted his role as the second-born, just being pretty laid back and going with the flow. He doesn't care that big brother is loud and tries to monopolize all of daddy's time and a lot of mommy's too! Granted a few short weeks ago, Sam was hogging all of mommy. I hope we've found a good balance for a little while.

Just Call Me Girl

We bumped into some friends this morning and another classic car ride convo followed:

Jack: "Maui Mommy?"
Me: "Yes that was Mallory's Mommy. Her name is Sarah."
J: "Name Sarah."
M: "Yes, what is your name?"
J: "Naaame Jack."
M: "That's right! What is your brother's name?"
J: "Sam."
M: "That's right. What is daddy's name?"
J: "Naaame Josh!"
M: "You got it. What is mommy's name?"
J: "Mommy's naaaame...girl!"
M: "Girl? Is that my name?"
J: "Yep!"

So, just call me girl folks!

Remember...

Remember when you were a kid and you could just fall asleep anywhere? Okay, some of you probably still have that ability. I just happened upon an interesting sight a few moments ago. Reliably for the last couple of weeks after we put Jack to bed, he gets out of bed and just stands at the gate at the top of the stairs outside his room. After one of us goes up and spanks him and puts him back to bed, he typically goes right to sleep. I guess it's just a routine he's developed. But as long as he's not getting up more than that one time or in the middle of the night, I think I'll take it.

So, Josh is working his typical Monday night shift in the ER. So, I tucked Jack in with the usual emphasis on not getting out of bed, etc. Not long after I tucked him in I began feeding Sam. I heard a few rumblings, but hoped it was just Jack getting comfortable in bed. After I finished with Sam, I turned on some lights to see if I would hear a scurry of little feet upstairs. I didn't hear anything, but did notice something at the top of the stairs that looked out of place. I climbed the stairs to see Jack stretched out on the hardwoods right in front of his bedroom door with his lovie in hand fast asleep. So, I guess during the period of waiting for someone to come out and punish him and send him back to bed he decided to take a cat nap. I helped him back into his bed and hopefully won't hear another peep from him tonight.

"I Say Dangerous!"

It is so much fun to hear the things that Jack says these days. And one of the cuter encounters took place the other day when even he took notice of his developing vocabulary. Yesterday in the car he asked for "daddy's knife" so he could cut his security tag from church off his leg. When I told him it was dangerous, he repeated it..."daddy's knife...daddy's knife...daddy's knife dangerous." You see, instead of "um, um" he repeats the beginning of the sentence when he's gearing up for a big word. Then the cutest was afterward when he yelled, "I say dangerous! I say dangerous!" Yep, the little sweet heart had realized he had managed to conquer a big word and he was pretty darn proud of himself. Not a moment later he added, "Jack talking!" I guess he wanted to make sure his speaking accomplishments didn't go un-praised...so, of course it was followed by lots of cheers and acclaim from mom and dad!